OLEG DERIPASKA has a reputation for being a tough and aggressive businessman. He emerged as the victor in the bitter and sometimes violent “aluminium wars” of the 1990s, when business clans fought over control of Russia’s profitable metals industries.
Mr Deripaska proved unflappable, on one occasion reportedly facing down a business rival who was threatening him with a grenade-launcher. He was named by business opponents in an American lawsuit that included allegations of fraud and murder, but the case was thrown out of court in 2003. The tycoon teamed up with Roman Abramovich to create Russian Aluminium in 2000. It is now the third- largest aluminium company in the world and is expanding abroad. This week it signed a deal with Queensland, the Australian state, with a view to building a smelter there.